Government gives Croydon Council £2.3m after funding problems threaten asylum seeking children

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

The government has agreed to give Croydon Council £2.3 million after it warned it could have to stop taking in unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC).

The authority takes in more children that other local councils – due to the Home Office’s Lunar House being based in Croydon.

In the past decade it has cared for 5,000 of these vulnerable children and while it does get some funding from central government, it has had to top this up by between £7 million and £9 million a year.

The £2.3 million will plug a gap in the funding for looking after the children this year, currently it cares for 156 children as well as having 477 older care leavers.

The extra cash was welcomed by council leader Hamida Ali, who Tweeted: “Positive that government will support Croydon this year with costs of caring for more unaccompanied asylum seeking children proportionately than anywhere in the country.

“Reinforces [the] importance of ensuring all councils play their part in supporting the most vulnerable young people.”

The cash injection was announced at a Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting on Tuesday night (September 7).

Councillor Stuart King said: “The leader wrote to the government last month, setting out our continued support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children but also made clear that the financial strain put on us by having Lunar House here was becoming rapidly unsustainable.

“I am pleased to say the government had indicated it will provide the council with the exceptional one-off payment of £2.35 million for this financial year.”

While this will fill the budget gap in caring for the children this year, it is a cost that the council will face in years to come.

Newly appointed finance director Richard Ennis said: “It is good news but it is an ongoing issue, it hasn’t gone away and obviously it’s been heightened by recent events in Afghanistan.”